Kobayashi Maru scenario
The Kobayashi Maru scenario is a test given to command track line officer Starfleet cadets. This test is generally not given to science officers. It is a test of character to see what a potential captain would do in a no-win scenario. In the original scenario, the cadet patrols the Klingon Neutral Zone in a simulated starship, based on a dramatized experience of the USS Horizon. The ship receives a distress call from a neutronic fuel carrier, the ECS Kobayashi Maru (commanded by Kojiro Vance), from inside the Neutral Zone. If the cadet attempts to aid the Maru, three Klingon cruisers attack. The computer ensures that it is impossible for the cadet to save both the Maru passengers and their own ship. Cadets are forbidden to ever tell others how they win, if they win. In fact, the entire Kobayashi Maru program is meant to be unknown to those who have never taken it, so that they cannot pre-plan tactics. Leonard McCoy and Spock were two officers who had never taken the test. Basis for the test The Kobayashi Maru scenario is based on an actual event in Starfleet history, in which a freighter called the Kobayashi Maru was lost along the Klingon border in the 22nd century. History 23rd century One cadet took the test twice in 2234, the first and only one to do so until 2254. Circa 2239, a cadet lasted 11.5 minutes in the simulation. James T. Kirk became the first cadet to beat the scenario in 2254 by re-programming the computer. On his first attempt "commanding" the USS Potemkin, he lasted five minutes, but "died" after four minutes and 37.03 seconds. The results were the same in his second attempt, but his reaction time in both was well above average. After these defeats, Kirk took to studying statements by Korrd meant for both winners and losers (in battle). Before his third attempt, Kirk reprogrammed the scenario (with the aid of a fellow Starfleet cadet), eliminating the parts of the program that made it impossible to win, thus creating a level playing field where success was not guaranteed, but at least possible. He then told the simulation's Klingon, Kozor, that he was "Captain Kirk". When they heard this, the attacking fleet instantly assisted Kirk in locating Kobayashi Maru. Kirk then tricked the Klingon ships into warping away, giving him time to evacuate the Maru. The whole thing took eighteen minutes and twenty-seven seconds. Admirals Jublik and Zheng gave Kirk a commendation for original thinking, as well as ninety-nine demerits, just short of the expulsion limit. Years later, cadet David Forester, inspired by Kirk's example, took the test and passed it, reutilizing Kirk's method of reprogramming the machine. Another cadet who has beaten the simulation is Peter Kirk. He did this by challenging the other captain to a ritual duel to the death, such that all existing hostilities must be halted for the duration. Peter told his crew to rescue the Kobayashi Maru's crew and warp away while he was in combat. In 2285, Kirk, then an admiral serving as an instructor at the Academy, supervised Lieutenant Saavik's performance in the Kobayashi Maru scenario. Former Enterprise crew members Spock, Sulu, Uhura and McCoy participated as "actors" in the simulation. Saavik's performance was predictably dismal; as Kirk observed to Spock, "She destroyed the simulator room and you with it." Spock had never taken the Kobayashi Maru test, but before he died of radiation poisoning, he described his sacrifice to save the Enterprise as his solution to the scenario. While breaking Leonard McCoy out of a Federation prison and plotting to steal the Enterprise from the Spacedock in Earth orbit, Admiral Kirk contacted Commander Chekov with the coded message "The Kobayashi Maru has set sail for the promised land." The term "Kobayashi Maru" may be a slang term for any hopeless situation in the 23rd century, at least in Starfleet culture. Leonard McCoy considered his and James T. Kirk's imprisonment on Rura Penthe to be a "Kobayashi Maru" and told Kirk as much, on their first night at the penal mine. 24th century The alliance between the Federation and the Klingon Empire led to the change, in the 24th century, of enemy in the Kobayashi Maru from Klingon to Romulans. Cadets that have beaten the simulation in the 24th century include Quintin Stone and Nog. Typhuss James Halliwell, upon taking the test in 2350, destroyed the freighter, backing up his decision by suggesting that more than likely the crew was dead, and it was just a trap. He also reasoned that the crew would prefer this to capture and torture from their adversaries. Typhuss James Halliwell recorded one of the highest scores for the test in the Academy's history. (Star Trek: Intrepid) Mackenzie Calhoun, upon taking the test, destroyed the freighter, backing up his decision by suggesting that more than likely the crew was dead, and it was just a trap. He also reasoned that the crew would prefer this to capture and torture from their adversaries. When Cadet William T. Riker took the test, he impressed his instructor by ordering an EVA suit be brought to him, so he could fight the enemy by hand. By the 2370s, cadets taking the test were asked to advance beyond Kirk's "original thinking" in their efforts to save the ship. Sinjin Kirk recorded one of the highest scores for the test in the Academy's history. A similar simulation was later used in the 24th century. It involved a damaged Ferengi ship as well as Romulan warbirds, instead of a civilian freighter and Klingon battle cruisers, and was performed on the holodeck. However according to Tuvok this version did have a correct solution, that being to retreat. Alternate reality In the Kelvin timeline, by 2258 Commander was in charge of programming the scenario for cadets. In that year of that reality took the test. Like in the original reality, he took the test twice and failed before taking the test a third time. On his third attempt, Kirk won the simulation by reprogramming the simulator and making it possible to destroy the attacking ships with one torpedo each. Disturbed by this, Spock investigated and brought his findings to academy leadership, which called a hearing into Kirk's actions. In 2259, one of the video feeds on Admiral Alexander Marcus was of the Kobayashi Maru test monitoring room. Category:Starfleet Academy Category:Education